obsession at first sight

"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment."

-Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Full disclosure: I have a problem. I call it desperate-to-wed-itis and I blame Disney.

My childhood was full of brainwashing with Happily Ever Afters and perfect Prince Charmings. My teen years are no better: it's scary how easily I'll jump from "oh he's a great guy" to "I can't wait to marry him." Within a few hours of meeting a guy who is altogether decent (cute, nice, smart, funny, passionate), I become a little girl who thinks she's finally found her prince. And the scary thing is I'm usually pretty rational and level-headed as a junior in college.

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But with each shriek of devotion I vow to our future love, my maturity declines-- with no neurons in my head left to remind me that I barely know the guy, had just met him once, and he didn't even ask for my number. Instead, I'm already masterminding battle plans of how I can next run into him, impress him, and make him want me. As soon as I mold him into the perfect man in my head, I picture us with our quaint life and MARRIAGE, wondering if he'll be a good father or not, completely disregarding the fact that I've known this person for just a few hours.